


Falcon

by Simona_Piper



Category: N/A - Fandom
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 21:19:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17231387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simona_Piper/pseuds/Simona_Piper
Summary: sorry for the bad grammar also; first time post; this my own story and I would like feedback on how to improve it





	1. Everything starts today

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for the bad grammar also; first time post; this my own story and I would like feedback on how to improve it

“Come on already,” Lizzie complained pulling my arm making me miss the zombie heading right towards me, “You’ve been playing this for half an hour.”  
“Okay, fine, we can leave once I die.” I said trying to kill off the few zombies that were starting to surround me.  
“That’s going to take forever, besides we have to be home early remember today’s the 350 year anniversary of the border going up.” she huffed.  
“I don’t care if I’m late.” I said to her in such a cold voice.  
“You know you shouldn’t say that,” she said with pride in her voice, “The wall saved our lives. Do you know what kind of people are on the other side of the border?”  
Before she could finish her sentence the lights began to flicker and darkness fell.  
“What’s going on?” I asked sitting up straighter.  
“Probably just a power surge.” Lizzie said in a calm voice.  
I felt something brush against my right shoulder and my jacket pocket dip down. I expected it was Lizzie stealing my quarters so I couldn’t play anymore.  
“I really hope it doesn’t erase my score.” I said imagining all of my two hours hard work wasted.  
Just then the lights came back on. As my eyes adjusted to the lights again I could see a flashing title “start game”.  
“Ughh.” I groaned as I slumped down.  
“Yay, we can leave.” she said. I looked at her as she stood on my left side.  
“Have you been there the entire time?” I said reaching down to get my bag “I mean on my left.”  
“Yeah.” she said giving me a weird look. “We’re going to go to lazer tag, okay?”  
“Yay.” I said not even trying to fake my enthusiasm.  
We had to walk to the other side of the arcade just to play it. It was a Sunday so it was packed with people who aged to little kids to the people your parents tell you that you’re going to be if you don’t study. We passed by a group of wannabe cool kids who I guessed were only in sixth grade. There was a girl who had caked on makeup and a side pony that was almost on top of her head. She also wore neon leg warmers and a neon orange skirt that was too big on her.  
“You should tell them that you don’t actually do the dress up days.” I chuckled to Lizzie.  
Next, we passed the go-kart races and there were a ton of teenage boys and girls huddling around the sides cheering on their friends. Lizzie was immediately recognized and called over. She started walking over to them and then stopped and turned around.  
“Can you go save us a spot?” she asked “Pretty please?” she said clasping her hands together and shaking them.  
I rolled my eyes and shook my head up and down. She gave me a big grin and proceeded towards the large group of teens. I walked past most of the ticket and video games. As I looked to the right of me at the video game section one of the games caught my attention. It was the new game ‘Find Me’.  
There was a thirteen year old boy named Tommy playing it. He was a regular and quite a good player. I walked up slowly and stood next to him and watched him play. He was at the point of where you had to go up the stairs to the bathroom or the stalker would find and kill you. He chose to go to the kitchen. As I expected a minute later the stalker grabbed the character and killed them. The boy groaned and hit the machine.  
“Hey, don’t take it out on the machine.” I said in a stern voice “And a tip when you get to that point don’t go to the kitchen go up stairs and go to the bathroom.” I said winking and walked off to the place I was already suppose to be.  
I walked past the other games looking straight forward keeping my eyes on the lazer tag sign. It had neon purple and green lettering with orange and pink dots decorating most of the free space of the board. There were also a few yellow and red lighting bolts that flashed. As I neared the line I could it was at the end of the railing. Which meant there were about two games ahead of me. As I got in line I saw Brandon and Austyn.  
Brandon was about five-eleven. He had golden hair with slightly darker eyebrows. A soft jaw that still didn’t have any hair and a crooked smile that seemed to light up everyone's day.  
Austyn was a short, stout guy -though he was nearly four inches taller than me- he also had a very sad gautte growing at the tip of his chin (Which he was very proud of).  
I walked up next to them leaving about a foot of space between us and climbed up to sit on the railing and pulled out my phone.  
“Hey,” Austyn said waving to get my attention “There’s two more people coming we’re saving them spots.”  
I must have made a weird face because Brandon butted in.  
“We just wanted you to know.” he said throwing his hands up as if to defend himself.  
“No, it’s fine I’m saving a spot, too.”  
“Oh.” he said in a voice that sound deflated.”  
“So man you gonna make a move in here or are going to save it for the movie.” Austyn asked with a very smug face.  
I assumed they were talking about Catlin. I opened up Patch but kept listening to their conversation.  
Bradon smiled and walked over and leaned on the rail opposite of me.  
“Maybe.” he said with a sly smile.  
“Just telling you, you only have ten minutes.” Austyn said climbing the railing.  
“Jesus, loser, did you even try to look decent today?”An annoying voice said. It was Alfie snickering making his red hair look like horns. Hea new friend I made last year. I had forgotten that he was going to be here today and didn’t bother to get down.  
I looked up at him and gave him my signature glare that made people shut up.  
“It’s just a joke, loosen up.” he said coming up and giving me a hug.  
When we pulled apart I looked over to see if the line had moved and caught Brandon with a mad look on his face.  
“Maybe Austyn said something he didn’t like” I thought. Just then Austyn elbowed my my arm and my phone dropped to the ground.  
“God I’m sorry” Austyn said from his perch.  
I was about to get off my perch when Brandon made a swift move to the ground and extended my phone out to me.  
“I never thought that you would drop your standards so, Brandon.” I heard a voice that was unnaturally high say and a chuckle that followed.  
I looked over and saw Catlin with an evil look on her face and Meritta walking towards us. I looked back at Brandon just as he shoved my phone into my hand and quickly got off his knee.  
“Dear God, it’s both of them.” I whispered to Alfie as they walked past us.  
“Merie, I didn’t know you'd be here.” Austyn said in a deeper voice then normal.  
“I don’t know if I can play a game where all I hear is screaming.” Alfie said airly, throwing his head back.  
“At least it’ll be an easy game” I said to him, “Doubt they could hit an elephant if it stood still.  
Alfie laughed. As I looked over to the clock I saw Brandon place a hand over his mouth.  
“Anywho, how much longer do we have to wait?” Catlin asked looking over the crowd.  
“Probably ten or fifteen more minutes.” Brandon said.  
After about five minutes of endless babble from the group next to us that could only make conversation by making fun of people and their clothes I tuned out and focused on Alfie as he examined the text. His expression changed as he read them and it was funny to watch as he got to the end.  
“How was the date last night?”  
“Nope.” I said ending the conversation.  
“That bad?”  
“He smacked our waitress’s ass when we left the restaurant. And when we went to the movie he left halfway through and didn’t come back. And when it finished I went out to the lobby and saw he was flirting with some girl.”  
“Wanted to say something, but you know I had to run it by my dating guide.”  
“Lizzie?”  
“Yeah, she said “It would bring upon a bad reputation’.” I said through chuckles.  
“Because it would.” Lizzie said emerging from the crowd that had gathered behind us.  
“I’m pretty sure her face already does that for her.”  
“Thanks.” I said elbowing him “I already know I was ugly I didn’t need reassurance.” Anaya Hobson  
“No it-” Alfie started but the line started moving and I got down before he could finish.  
“Please form a line against the wall after you have a vest.” the employ named Kris said as he began opening the door.  
We all filed into a room that had vest along the walls.  
I went to the middle and reached for the one that I always wore when we played, but as I put my hand on it another hand with long acrylic purple nails grabbed it.  
“Oops, sorry did you want this?” Caitlin said as she pulled it over her hair sprayed covered hair and continued to buckle it shut.  
“No, I just wanted to take it off considering Tommy had a nose bleed in it today.” I said with a smile and walked off to the other end to grab random one.  
She shrieked and I heard Kris tell her not to take it off.  
I went down to Alfie and took one that read ‘Lobster’ and started to put it on.  
“You are truly the devil.” Lizzie said as we walked back up “I mean did you have to say that? If you ever want to be in with the cool people you’re going to have to be nicer.”  
“It wasn’t that much detail and I could have said worse.” I said rolling my eyes, “I don’t want to be associated with them.”  
“Okay, now that everyone has their vest please gather around.” Kris said motioning for us to come towards him.  
I was about to get into a spot between Lizzie, but Meritta stepped in front of me. So I made my way closest to the doors where Brandon stood.  
“There out for you today, huh?” he said in a whispered voice.  
“I don’t even know what to say about it.” I said unhooking my gun from my vest.  
Brandon seemed to acknowledge that there was a gun attached to the vest and fumbled to unhook it.  
“Here.” I said moving his hand away and unhooking it for him.  
“Thanks.” he said airly with relief.  
“So I assume we have a couple new player.” Kris said looking at Brandon. “So I’m going to flip a coin and whichever color it lands on goes in first.” he took out and flipped it in the air. He caught it and flipped it onto the top of his hand.  
Suddenly our vest all lit up and the lights in the room went off.  
“Can the blue vests please enter the room.” I looked around at the room and saw that Lizzie and Alfie were both red and that Michael and Catlin were blue. I looked down hoping that my peripheral vision was lying and that the light was not blue. But it was not so I slowly turned around and walked out the door.  
I was the first to enter the room and quickly examined my surrounding and went straight through a passageway that was in front of me. I went to the center then I turned right so I could be in the little corner that had a little barrier that no one ever found me in. I heard the buzzer go off and then feet came running in.  
I heard Lizzie scream and peeked my head out of my hiding spot to see if I could see any lit up vests. I didn’t see any and started to make my way to the otherside I was about get to the first barrier when I saw red and shot. I heard a groan and retreating footsteps. I continued on my way and shot a few more red vest but I didn’t see any other blue.  
“Maybe they’re hiding,” I thought.  
I heard footsteps behind me and turned around but I didn’t hear anything. I continued to walk backward when I felt someone grab my arm and pull me towards them. I was about to scream when they put their hand over my mouth.  
“Shh, it’s just me.” Brandon whispered low into my ears. “You were about to get shot thought you’d like some help.” Even though I wasn’t facing him I could hear the slyness of his smirk lacing his words.  
I scoffed and made a motion for him to remove his hand which smelled strange like old pizza and soda.  
His hand lingered for a second and then he removed it.  
“Have you moved at all? I haven’t seen any blue vests anywhere.” I said trying to say it fast enough so he wouldn’t assume I’m accusing him of something.  
“Uh” he said dragging out the syllable and scratching the back of his head. “Yeah, sort of. I’ve moved along the back and shot whatever red I saw.”  
I rolled my eyes and started to walk to the other barrier next to us. I looked behind me and huffed to get his attention to follow me. He reluctantly followed and swiftly made his way next to me with long strides.  
“Now what?” he asked  
“Well I’m going to go kick some ass but you can go and find Catin if you want.” I said raising my gun up and shorting Meritta as she came around the corner. I didn’t give him time to answer I ran off into the center hoping I wouldn’t get shot.  
I rounded the corner and saw Alfie and Lizzie with their backs turned towards me. I took my chance and shot at both of their bright red vests. They both immediately turned grey and I bolted to the left. After finding a dead end I turned right and found Catlin. She raised her gun as if to shot but I was quicker then her and shot at her vest three times. She screamed and tried to shot back but her gun was disabled.  
Suddenly the lights came on.  
Me and Catlin both stared at each other for a moment trying to figure out what happened.  
“Jamie!” a voice screamed from in front of us.  
“Lizzie!” I screamed back walking towards the voice.  
Catlin followed and as we passed a passageway Austyn and Meritta just about trampled me.  
“What the hell is going on?” Catlin screeched to Austyn “You said all I had to do was show up and everything would fall into place.”  
“What?” I whispered to myself.  
“Yeah, what do you mean by that.” Brandon said appearing out of thin air.  
“Jamie thank God.” Alfie said coming up and hugging me “Call 911.”  
“Why?” I said pulling out my phone and going to the emergency dial. I leaned against the wall next to the door trying to cool down since it felt like the room was getting hotter by the minute.  
“We heard a gunshot.” Lizzie said coming out from behind Alfie.  
“A gunshot?” Catlin said in a even high pitch then usual.  
“Are you sure it wasn’t the laser guns?” I asked raising the phone to my ear.  
“We have to get out of here.” Meritta said grabbing ahold of Austyn’s arm.  
I heard it ring a couple times.  
“Hello, 911, please state whether your emergency is a fire, medical, or police emergency.” the lady mechanically said.  
“Hi, medical and police, I just heard gunshots come from inside the building.”  
Just then a banging came from the otherside of the door. I nearly jumped out of my skin, dropping the phone to the side of me and stared at the others. I slowly saw fear merge onto everyone's faces. A couple seconds passed by and we didn’t hear anything.  
Suddenly the door knob clicked.  
“Run!” Alfie whispered.  
Everyone ran in different directions. I saw that Alfie and Lizzie stayed together and that put my mind at ease because Lizzie is an excellent hider. Austyn and Brandon both ran to the right and that area had a lot of hiding places. And finally Meritta and Catlin both ran to the left which barely had any hiding spots and if there were some they weren’t any good. As I was about to run the door swung open pining me to the other side of the wall.  
I heard heavy footsteps. Maybe two or three. When they opened the door wider I was pushed up against the wall wishing that it would devoir me. I scooted a little closer to the door crack and peered through it at the back of the supposed shooters heads. They were both weren’t very tall maybe five-seven or five-eight for them both but their body shapes varied drastically. The man who wore a green hoodie was a very slim built man who looked like he was made of legs. And the other wore a red hoodie and was quite a chubby guy who had a pot-belly and stubby legs. I could see them swirling their heads around looking for any sign of life. I heard mumbles from the pot-belly man and then they split up. The green hoodied man walked towards the left while the red hoodied man walked towards the center.  
I took my chance and listened very closely to the room outside to see if I could hear any movement. I didn’t hear anything and pushed the door slightly so I could shimmy out between. Then I bolted out the door. I planned to run for the entrance of the arcade, but when I got out of the laser tag area I felt an undecidable pain rip through my right shoulder. All the noise that surrounded the arcade became static against the pain that screamed in my head making me lose my balance and fall to the floor with a hard thud. I scrambled to get up when I heard heavy footsteps come towards me. I bolted and ran as fast as my body could and wove in between games until I thought I was far enough away I crossed the aisle to the video game section.  
As I entered it I found a game that had a body connected to it. As I ducked inside of it and closed the curtain I turned around and found the body of the girl that was dressed up in the leg warmers. I clapped my hand over my mouth to stifle the scream that tempted to slip out of my mouth. I sat down trying to calm myself and listen for the man. As I sat there I could hear him panting and walking up and down the aisle.  
“Come out you, bitch!” he screamed pronouncing the last word wrong. I heard something crackle.  
“We have a runner.” a voice said. I automatically assumed they had walkie talkies and Alfie was on the run, I hoped anyways.  
I waited a couple of minutes and then stepped out of the game’s body. When I stepped out I finally looked at my surrounding and saw bodies strewn all over the floor and games splattered in blood. I wanted to scream and cry but I couldn’t I had to go and get help. How could I know if the lady took me serious, the police department gets prank calls all the time. I was walking in between games was when I saw Tommy. As I came closer I could see that he had a huge gash on his forehead and blood seeping through the chest of his shirt.  
I ran over to him and bent over and shook him trying to see if he was dead. His arm twitched and his eyes flew open I put my hand over his mouth so that he couldn’t scream.  
“Shhh.” I said “Don’t make a noise. We have to get out of here.” I said sternly, slowly removing my hand and helping him sit up.  
I put my arm under his and stood him up. We were about to walk around a machine when something moved in my peripheral vision. I quickly turned around and was meet by a man. I could tell by his build that he was a very strong person and could probably kill me by smashing my head into the wall. He wore a black hoodie that was a little snug in the shoulders and chest, he also wore black cargo pants where I could see the outline of a gun. He wore a mask that covered to lower half of his face. I stood frozen pushing Tommy behind me so if he drew the gun he would still have a chance to escape. The man looked me up and down and something in his eyes changed.  
“I wouldn’t go that way, the rest of them are out there.” he said pointing towards the entrance. He raised his hand and signaled for us to follow.  
“Wait, what?” I said trying to get his attention and answer me.  
I looked at Tommy and he shrugged his shoulders. I took a deep breath and started in the direction he went. We practically had to jog to catch up with him. We weaved in between games walking all the way to back exit. I was confused on why he was helping us or if we was just leading us into a trap but I chose to be optimistic for Tommy’s sack. Once we got to the exit he opened up the door and popped his head out looking around. I could feel the freezing cold wind seeping in from the little crack. He opened it wider for us to walk behind him and I could see that it was pouring down rain. Once we were outside and the door closed he pulled out his gun.  
“What’s that for?” I asked slowing my pace putting distance between us.  
“Just in case.” he said not even turning around but continuing to a black jeep not parked to far from us. He made it there before us and got in the car.  
“Hurry up.” was all he said.  
I opened the backseat door and helped Tommy in and got in beside him. Before I even shut the door we were speeding off. My back was slammed into the seat I glared at him in the rear view mirror and I could see the smirk littering his face.  
“Where are you taking us?” Tommy said in a shaky voice.  
“Hospital.” he said keeping his eyes on the road.  
After a few minutes of silence I finally said “Thank you.”  
When I looked in to mirror I saw a smirk and questioned whether he was going to help us again.  
“Did they see your face?” he asked in a serious voice.  
I recalled my run-in with the pot-belly man and my face must have showed it, because the ski masked man had a very unhappy expression and cursed under his breath.  
“Why?” I said “It’s not as if they’ll find me.”  
He didn’t say anything and drove right up to the emergency entrance. I got out of the car and pulled Tommy out. As I stepped away from the car he drove off.  
“Such a gentlemen.” I huffed as I walked towards the door.  
As soon as I stepped into the hospital I was swarmed by doctors and nurses. They put him on a gurney and ushered him off to surgery. They then ushered me off to the waiting room telling me that they’ll update me when anything changes. I started to pace the room wondering how Tommy was and if the others escaped. That’s when I passed by a tv that had a newscaster interviewing a victim in a car crash caused by the Slasher Gang. I knew if they weren’t doing a report on the arcade then they didn't know and the others could be in danger, or worse… dead.  
“Excuse me.” I said to the lady behind the desk “I’m going to need to step out for a second, can you please contact me if anything changes with the boy I just brought in?” I asked her with big puppy dog eyes.  
“Are you a relative?” she asked not even looking away from the screen.  
“Yes.” I lied. I didn’t really care at the moment because each second I wasted meant that they could have been being tortured and slaughtered.  
She looked at me skeptical, but her eyes seemed to soften. She huffed and turned around, waddling out of her seat of to a cabinet and pulled out a clipboard.  
“Please write down you name and your telephone number and I will contact you if his state changes.” she said in a robotic voice as if she’s said it a million times.  
I scribbled my name and number down and fast as I could and practically throw it across the desk. I gave her a fake half smile and bolted towards the door.  
When I got outside I didn’t know what I was going to do because my car was still at the arcade. So I ran to the back of the hospital and followed the border that went all over the city, confining us in one big group.  
I used to hate the border because each time I looked at it, it always reminded me of what we left behind. When I was about five I use to get rope and climb over it to see my dad, but after a while they figured out people were climbing over it so they put up security wire.  
I ran across it at my top speed trying to stay at steady ground so I wouldn’t jostle my arm more than it needed to be. After running for about ten minutes I finally saw the game controller peek over the top of the of the pizza palace next to it. I ran up to the garbage bin and peeked around it to see if I saw any of the men.  
There was only two cars there. Mine with was the black Fussion and the other was a big green van that had stickers all over the side of it. When I looked down I saw a medium sized metal pipe and picked it up. As I made my way towards the front doors, I plastered myself along the side of the building. When I was almost to the front I heard a car slowly pulling into the parking lot. When I peeked out from the side of the building I saw a black jeep that looked very familiar. The door swung open and a person stepped out. I recognized the black cargo pants but this time the man didn’t have a mask on. His brown almost black hair plastered to his forehead but a little bit stuck out from the back. He ran his hands through it fixing it and fluffing it up. As he came closer I could tell that he was only a teenager and not an adult like I had assumed. When he was about fifteen feet away I could see hazelnut colored eyes that had startled me with how cold and hard they had been in the arcade now look like softened chocolate as the sun started to set.I must have made a noise because he snapped his neck in my direction and sped up his pace. But I was too slowly in about four long strides he was in front of me, towering over me as if I was a disgusting bug he was about to smash with his shoe.  
“Why are you back here?” he asked in a angry demanding voice not even trying to hide his displeasure that I’m here.  
“I needed to get my friends out.” I said speaking to the ground. I wondered where my confidence had gone but I wasn’t able to figure it out before the boy spoke again.  
“I save you, drive you away from the place that would have been your deathbed and you still return. You’re going to get yourself killed.” he said changing his voice to an even colder tone.  
“No.” I said defending myself and looking up at the boy “All I have to do is go around the back and check it out.” I said matter-of-factly sealing it with crossing my arms. Even though I could feel my legs about to give out at any moment.  
He quirked up his eyebrow and smirk.  
“Is that all?” he said in a mocking tone.  
I didn’t even answer I just walked passed him and head around, thanking the manager for not putting any windows in the front, and heading to the side where the door was. When I came up to the door, I heard the sound of crunching gravel coming up behind me.  
I looked up at the boy with a questioning face.  
“It wouldn’t be right to let a girl go in by herself.” he said.  
I was about to say something but I decided that we didn’t have enough time for it so I let it slide. I was about to open the door when a thought caught my mind.  
“Did you call the police?” I asked him in a pleading voice.  
“Yes.” in that second I swore his voice could cut butter.  
I hurriedly opened the door hoping an action would quiet my hammering heart. As I entered the room my nose was meet by a metallic smell that made my stomach flip. As I made my way over to the light switch the boy put his hand on my arm. He looked around in the dark and then shook his hand for me to continue.  
I flicked the switch. In my head it sounded as if a thousand guns simultaneously went off but when I looked up the light barely shown through the thick tarps that had been placed over most of them. Only a few were left bare but the light that they produced was comparable to a huge fire.  
“Here,” he said tapping my arm and giving me a knife, “Just in case.” he was about to walk off when I couldn’t take his niceness anymore.  
“Why are you helping me?” I practically screamed at him.  
He didn’t get to answer before we heard a groan come from behind a barrier that was next to us. We both looked at each other for a second before silently deciding that we both take an end. He took out his gun from behind his back and goes for the left side. I flip out the blade and waste no time walk towards the barriers right side, preparing to see whatever laid there.  
When I stepped out in front of the barrier I about screamed and had to cover my mouth to muffle it. Austyn laid there a gash on his forehead and a bullet wounds on his right side. I sank down next to him slightly shaking him to get some kind of response other then moans. Almost his whole face was covered in blood and the bottom of his pure white shirt looked like he dipped it in red food dye.  
His eyes fluttered open and I could see that his pupils were blown wide.  
His light blue eyes were consumed by darkness, he muttered a few nonsense words and passed out again.  
The man gently pulled me back and picked up Austyn and flung him across his shoulders as if he was lumber. He walked out of the door and disappeared. I walked around the makeshift battlefield looking for the other and only found blood splattered on the floor. I walked towards the door and slowed my pace so that I could listen to for footsteps. I leaned up against the door and pressed my ear up against the cold metal door. I felt the slight motion of the door falling back. It was dead silent and the only noise that was audible was played by a dancing game that I used to play when I was a kid.  
I slowly pulled the door open and peeked through the crack. Lights danced carelessly on the wall as if a horrible science didn’t play out. I cautiously stepped out and into the main part when I saw Alfie and the rest of them huddled in a corner hugging each other. I ran over to them with tears daring to run down my cheeks. I ran over to them and hugged Alfie not wanting to let go.  
“Why did you come back.” Alfie said angrily shoving me off of him.  
“I-“ I tried to explain but Lizzie cut me off.  
“You need to go he’ll be coming back any second.” She pleaded with me.  
“I’m not leaving you guys.”  
“Oh no.” was all Catlin said when I felt a hand wrap around my throat.  
I tried to fight but the ground disappeared from my feet and the hand grew tighter and tighter by the second. I reached for the knife and cut his hand at the same time a noise rang out through the arcade that seemed to silence the games.


	2. Lollipops and Bandages

I toppled to the ground gasping for air.  
“Come on.” a voice said grabbing my arm and pulling me up to my feet. “Where’s the other one.” the man in the black cargo pants asked the others harshly.   
“He left.” Brandon said stepping forward.  
When I looked down the man in the green hoodied was on his back, blood soaking the back of the hoodie where the bullet wound sat.   
“Okay,” he said sliding his hand from my arm to my hand and squeezing it making me focus back on him, “He’s probably out looking for you.”   
Just then flashing lights painted the walls mixing with the pink and orange that created a happy tropical feeling. Seconds later cop cars and ambulances littered the parking lot and the noise of their sirens were so deathening I had to cover my ears as I made my way out to the parking lot.   
When I exited the arcade a wave of EMTs rushed us and took us all to different ambulances.   
I couldn’t focus on what the nurse was saying I was trying to figure out why everything happened. And how I could have stopped it.   
“Hey,” a voice said interrupting my thoughts. It was the boy who had rescued my numerous times tonight. “How are you?” he asked with slight traces of concern on his face.  
“As well as I can be I guess.” I said pointing to my shoulder that was now wrapped in bandage. “Why?” I asked “Why did you help me?”  
He didn’t say anything and just looked at the ground.   
“Okay fine,” I said after a minute “What’s your name at least?”  
He looked up at me as if trying to decide to tell me or not.   
“It’s Carter.” he finally said.   
“Well, thank you for saving me.” I said with the first genuine smile of the night.  
“And what’s the name of the damsel that I heroically saved tonight?” he said in a soothing voice that could melt butter and a smirk matching it.  
“Jamie.” I said rolling my eyes try to hide the heat rushing to my face.  
“Excuse me, Ms. Garner would you like to go the hospital to get any antibiotics?” the nurse who helped me asked from the back of the ambulance.   
“No thank you, I will get some tomorrow.” I said putting my burgundy sweatshirt, that had an alien on it backs, on.   
“Are you sure?” asking again with a silent plead for me to take them.  
“Yes,” I said hopping off the back of the “I’ll be fine til tomorrow.”   
“Okay.”   
When I turned back around Carter was nowhere to be seen.  
“Nerd.” I said once I was far enough away.   
“Really.” Alfie said turning around to reveal a big bandage on his left cheek. “Ms. AP-student and high-score to Apples to rockets.”  
He had his usual smirk on his face that always pissed me off.   
“I’m so glad you guys are okay.” I said.   
“Yeah,” Lizzie said, “So any idea of what happened?”   
“No, but let’s not worry about that now.” I said crossing my arms.  
“We should start heading home.” Alfie said standing up from the back of the truck.   
“Yeah.” Lizzie agreed as she leaped down from the back of the ambulance. “One question though, who was that guy back there? In the arcade who shot the man who was try to strangle you.”   
“Oh no one just some random guy inside the arcade when the shooting started.” For all I know he could have not been with them and did just hear the shots from outside. And just conquincedanlty have a mask and gun on him.   
I shuddered to myself and forced my mind away from the topic.   
Alfie and Lizzie were talking about random thing that had happened earlier in the day. I slowed my pace trying to figure out if I should go visit Tommy before I go home or if I should wake up early and visit him in the morning.   
As we passed the alley that led to the hospital I turned and was meet by darkness and suddenly felt uneasy. I had come down this alley hundreds of times at all times of the day but now I felt as if anything could jump out at me. I sped up my pace and and hurried down to the halo of light that was produced by a street light turning on.   
It was close to curfew but it was too late to turn back, either way I went I would be late so I stuck to my route. I went through the main entrance and darted for the elevator trying to stay unnoticed. Sighing in relief when I entered the elevator without drawing attention. I was in the clear and my heart slowly calmed. Until it stopped one floor short of where I needed to be. The doors seemed to be open painfully slow but through the crack I saw dark brown hair and almost black eyes.   
“Oh, what a conquenceadance.” Carter said with a smirk plastered on his face.  
“Sure.” I said scooting closer to the wall.   
“So who saw your face?”  
“What?” I asked genuinely confused.  
“In the arcade. Who was it?”   
“Um…” I tried to recall the event of the last few hours, “He was wearing a red hoodie, that’s all I know.”   
“Dammit.” he said airly.  
“Why?” I asked just as the bell rang and it was my turn to get off.   
Before I could even make way towards the exit Carter was already in front of me. As I followed he looked behind at me.  
“Where to?”   
I stuffed my hands in my pocket digging for my phone that the lady would contact me with the information of Tommy’s room, but when I went to grab the familiar object it wasn’t there.   
“Is that him?” Carter asked pointing to a boy in a few rooms down.  
“Yeah.” I said as I got closer.   
As we walked into the room I saw that his once chocolate colored skin now looked like sandpaper. I walked over to him and looked at his head.   
His eyes twitched and slowly opened.   
“Jamie?” he said weakly, slowly raising his hand up.   
I grabbed it and squeeze it tight.   
“How are you feeling?” I asked practically screaming at him.   
“Water.” Was all he said in a hoarse voice.  
Before I could reach for the pitch Carter was already pouring it. He walked over besides me and handed the water to Tommy.   
He sipped it.  
“Has your mom come and visit you yet?” I asked hoping for the best.  
He shook his little head and I felt anger slowly start to boil in me.  
“I bet she’s at work.” I said plastering a smile on my face and digging my nails into the wrist of my arms.   
Carter perked his head up and headed for the door and peaked out.   
“Question, what would happen if the nurses caught us?” Carter asked from doorway.  
“They would call the police and we would get arrested.”I replied   
“We gotta go now.”  
“Okay, I be back tomorrow and I’ll bring you a doughnut.”   
“Really, with strawberry frosting?”   
“Of course.”   
“We have to go.” Carter said grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the room.   
He pulled up his hood and dragged me to the stairwell. When we reached the fourth floor two police officers opened the door just as we past it. Carter slowed his pace but that still caught their attention.   
“Hey!” one of the officers’ screamed.  
“Stop right there!” the other said.  
We bolted down the stairs and I about tripped when we reached the first floor but Carter caught me, pulling me along. But instead of a Jeep a black motorcycle with silver outlines sat in a lonely parking lot. Carter got onto the bike as if it was second nature.   
“Get on.” he said staring at the door watching for the police officers.   
I swung my leg over and gripped the side of the motorcycle for balance.   
“Hold on.” was all he before he cranked the gas and took off.   
I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed. As soon as we were out of the parking lot I heard sirens come to life and lights start to flash behind us.   
He jerked the bike and went down an alley that was popularly known as sneak peek alley. Teens usually came out here to meet up and go across the fence or just to make out. Tonight it was completely empty, which wasn’t much of a surprise since tonight was the anniversary. We slowly crept down the road and when we came to an exit he peeked his head out suddenly light appeared in front of us.   
He cursed and turned the bike around but before we could even get to the back of the alley we saw lights pass it. He cursed again and started to break down possible exits. He turned off the bike and got off pulling me along. He pushed me into a doorway and shoved the bike to the side of the building, picking up a dirty tarp from the ground and pulling it over the bike. He was hurrying back to me when lights turned down the alley from behind him.   
I needed to think of a distraction. Before I could even think of anything the lights were a few feet away. I pulled him into the doorway crashing our lips together. It started out intense but I slowly sank into it, feeling less tense and was softly pushed against the wall. I was overwhelmed by the smell of whiskey and butterscotch but felt safe at the same time. I felt his hands start to wander, one going to my waist and the other burying itself in me dark brown hair. I moved my hands from his collar to the back of his neck and felt how big his shoulders actually were.   
The next thing I know is that a bright light is being shined in our faces. We broke the kiss and froze trying to let our minds catch up with us.   
“What the hell do you think you kids are doing out this late?” An officer with pig snout shouted at us.   
“Terry.” a stout man with a thin blond hair said sternly. “Were you kids at the hospital recently?” the man asked looking me up and down.   
“No.” I said in an innocent voice letting my face slightly pout. “Why? Is something going on there? Is it dang-” before I could finish he waved his hands in the air cutting me off.   
“Nothing of your concern,” Terry said not caring that his voice was laced in venom, “But you two should be home you do know curfew was set to ten o’clock not eleven.”   
“Really! I could've sworn it was eleven, well I’m sorry officers I really-“  
“It’s okay we’ll let you off with a warning but by the time we get back I don’t want you to here.” the thin haired man said pointing his finger at Carter rather then me with the hint of a smile tracing his lips.   
“Yes, sir.” Carter said again plastering a smile on my face and grabbing me by the waist pulling me closer to him.   
The two walked off back to their car and drove off.   
When they we’re out of sight Carter ran to his bike and uncovered it. He turned the key and it roared to life. He motion for me to get on. When I was about to swing my leg over he smirked.   
“What?” I asked him questionably.  
“That was the only way you thought-”   
“It worked didn’t it.” I said before he could finish his sentence.   
He shook his head and I thought my face was going to explode with how hot it felt.  
He pushed off and started towards the exit of the alley.  
“Where do you live?” he asked.   
“Go straight for eight blocks then left and stop when you see the house with a bright red door it on the left.” I said not even caring about leaning my head on his back.  
I closed my eyes trying to think about the events that happened today. But my head hurt so badly the only thing I could think about was how impulsively stupid I was to kiss him. I knew that he thought nothing of it but each time I thought about it a smile would tug at the corners of my mouth.   
When I opened them again we were pulling up to my house. He stopped the bike and I swung my leg over to get off. I was about to walk back to the house when a thought struck me.  
“The guy at the arcade won’t come back, right?”  
I could see the dread creeping onto his face. He groaned and ran his hand through his hair making it all fall to a the side and floof.   
“I forgot about him.” he said digging in his pocket fishing out a paper and pen and started to scribble on it. “This is my number if you see him or anyone suspicious call me.”   
He must have read it on my face as he went for his left jacket pocket and pulled out a phone.   
“Found it on the floor at the arcade thought it was yours or one of your friends.” he said rolling his eyes at the word “friends”.   
I took the paper and my phone. I put my phone in my back pocket but held the piece of paper in my hand.   
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.  
“What?”   
“The way you said ‘friends’.”  
“You really think they’re your friends.”  
“Of course we’ve known each other for awhile.”  
“That doesn’t make them friends. They didn’t even notice when you disappeared to go visit the boy in the hospital.”  
“Yes they did I bet they called. And are you stalking me now”  
“I haven’t felt the phone buzz.”  
“Well I disappear all the time I bet they’re use to it.”  
“Maybe, but I would still check in.”  
“They’re good people.” I said trying to convince myself more then him.  
“Oh yeah, do they use you as a place holders, or make fun of you on a daily basis, take money from you, or just ignore you?” he said viciously.   
I felt my eyes start to water and my hands digging into my arms to stop me from cry.  
“I’m sorry,” he said sounding truly genuine, “You just seem like a good person and..” he said trailing off.   
We sat there in silence.   
“Why are you helping me?” I finally asked him once again feeling like my voice was as loud as a baby cub.   
He was about to answer when I heard the garage door open.   
“Shit,” I cursed under my breath, “I have to go.” I said spinning around and running to the side of my house where the ladder stood leaning against the house welcoming me back to my personal hell.   
I climbed it in record time and threw the window open dropping down from the window sill while I pushed the ladder to the ground. I threw my bag under my desk and change my clothes into pajamas and jumped into bed.   
I heard the motorcycle take off down the road and furious pounding feet hitting the hard floor as it neared my room. I prepared myself for what would probably be my last few minutes of freedom. I looked at the jar of lollipops and let the tears that I have been holding in since the afternoon flood over me.


End file.
